The mum of a 10-month-old boy said her family was left stranded in Edinburgh at night after her son was transferred from St John’s Hospital to the Sick Kids.

Mary MacKenzie, from Breich, was left outraged after she, son Kenzie and husband Kenneth waited nearly three hours from 6.30pm for an ambulance to take them from St John’s to the Sick Kids Hospital.

The 24/7 services at the children’s ward in the Livingston hospital were closed last year

The MacKenzie family were then left out in the cold in the capital when they were discharged at 11pm and made to walk to Princes Street, where they got a taxi home to Breich, finally arriving home at 12.30am.

'Out in the cold'

Mary said: "My 10-month-old son was at St John’s but because the children’s ward was closed we had to get shipped the whole way off to the Sick Kids and get stranded and didn’t get home until 12.30am.

"We phoned NHS 24 at 5pm but as he was getting worse we took him down to A&E at 6.30pm and we were sent through to out-of-hours, where it was decided that he should be taken in an ambulance to Sick Kids.

"The ambulance was phoned around 6.50pm but it didn’t leave St John’s until 9.45pm. We arrived at Sick Kids around 10.30pm and we were discharged at 11pm.

"When he got discharged we were left stranded and out in the cold.”

The mum of the young boy has now called for full 24/7 services to be returned to the children’s ward at St John’s Hospital.

Petition

Mary said: "All of this could have been prevented if the children’s ward was reopened.

"I’m trying to get a petition up and running after what we’ve been put through. We’ve all got to get together and try and do something because it’s not on. As far as I’m concerned they are neglecting my son’s health."

A spokesperson for NHS Lothian said that the family should have been offered travel home, something Mary insists they were denied even after asking about it.

Jacquie Campbell, chief officer of acute services, said: “We can assist with transport for any family who is travelling between West Lothian and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, including scheduled travel and taxis when needed.

"Staff are aware that they should discuss the return travel plans for families and offer help and advice, if required, and we remind them of the need to do so.

"We cannot comment on individual cases without consent of the patient or their relatives but we would urge anyone with concerns to contact us to discuss further.

"Patient safety is always the top priority for all of our young patients and the safest option for some patients is to transfer them on to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children for further assessment and treatment or admission.

"We are committed to increasing staffing levels in paediatric services and reinstating the 24/7 model at St John’s Hospital when it is safe and sustainable to do so. “We are continuing to recruit and train staff."